Movie review: Servings of '90s nostalgia and naughty comedy in American Pie: Reunion

There’s a school of comedy filmmaking that relies heavily on the American Pie formula, especially the string of spin-offs and spoofs that followed in the wake of the original. I, for one, loved the first AP and the brand of rude, hound dog humor that put its cast in many an enjoyably mortifying situation.    We open with Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) as a married couple with two kids: a son and a baby. They’re also in a deep sexual rut, made evident by how Jim loads a slutty college co-eds video on his laptop after Michelle exits to take a bath. Unfortunately, his two-year-old catches him spanking the monkey in bed and, in the panic that ensues, the laptop’s lid snags his privates and he catches Michelle pleasuring herself in the bath tub with the shower head.      That pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the movie, dated thirteen years after these characters graduated. Still, the gang is all here and all of them have, more or less, not been living the life they thought they would. A bearded Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a stay-at-home husband and architect, foul-mouthed jock Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) is a temp secretary at an investment firm, Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is an assistant manager at a Staples branch (though he pretends to be a world-weary bohemian explorer at the start), Heather (Mena Suvari) is a nurse who is dating a heart surgeon, and good girl blonde Vicky (Tara Reid) is doing, er, something not specifically mentioned or so vaguely unimportant the writers forgot to pencil it into the dialogue. Only Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) seems to be enjoying a level of success as an L.A.-based NFL sportscaster and dating a very hot supermodel named Mia (Katrina Bowden). Problem is, Oz doesn’t relish the decadent B-list lifestyle and he pines for something missing in his life.       They all come together again when East Great Falls high school has a "Class of 1999" reunion. It’s there that the fun begins, abetted by a relentlessly nostalgic '90s heavy soundtrack.   Aside from the svelte Katrina Bowden, one of the brightest spots in the movie is Entourage’s Dania Ramirez as Selena--Michelle’s ex-band camp buddy. There's also the young Kara (Ali Cobrin, a dead ringer for Shirri Appleby, the object of alien affection in the '90s sci-fi series Roswell), the kid that Jim used to babysit who's now a very nubile and very beautiful girl about to turn eighteen.   Some of the greatest laughs are centered around Jim and Kara’s attraction for each other, exacerbated by Kara’s jealous jock boyfriend who proceeds to piss off Stifler and Co very quickly. Indeed, one of the best reasons to watch this movie is Cobrin’s amazing comeliness and how she plays well even if it’s as a ditzy teen virgin, or as Jim’s potential one night stand. The fact that Cobrin spends almost half her screen time topless just adds to her role as the new apple pie of many a boy’s sockets, who may just now be discovering the many pleasures of the AP franchise.   So this movie really isn’t short on laughs, especially at the start, where they are genuine and organic and executed well. The fact that the skits are gross, inappropriate. and of a sexual nature is a comforting sign that the filmmakers tried to stay true to the tone of the series.   In places, it’s also gotten better at handling the painful transition to responsible adulthood and the loss of youth. One of the most genuinely touching moments is when Stifler and Jim’s dad (now a lonely widower) do shots and proceed to get tipsy since everybody’s off trying to get laid again—consequently forgetting them. Oz’s failed foray into the A-list (as testified by a highly embarrassing, failed stint on Celebrity Dance-Off), his skanky, supermodel girlfriend in tow, and a dead end job as a sports anchor at a second rate network is a goldmine of metaphor for these actors and how it must hit too close to home sometimes.   Fact: of the original AP batch only Alyson Hannigan and John Cho (formerly just MILF Guy No. 2) currently have careers as bona fide stars. Both have a string of supporting roles in hit TV series and Cho also has the success of the Harold and Kumar franchise plus some movies under his belt. The others climbed too early and then tapered off or, like Tara Reid, combusted into a tabloid burn out. And Shannon Elizabeth, the hottie that launched a thousand “shaved” jokes and became a sex icon post-'90s? Proof that she peaked in feature film high school at Great Falls is that she only merited a cameo and didn’t make it to the reunion movie’s poster.   It still feels though like a last hurrah that nobody asked for. The plot resolutions of each character are only slightly satisfying and the writing is definitely overreaching at times. The various spin-offs of the American Pie series (of which this is the eighth, or the fourth of the original arc that includes American Pie 1 and 2, and American Wedding) have done many of these jokes to death and done them with so much more vulgarity. Meaning, better.   That said, if you’re looking for an enjoyable kind of comedy and appreciate the down-to-earth, uncouth, and humor of an adult variety that is the core of American Pie, there’s no better introduction than this one. American Pie Reunion still serves up some delicious surprises from its droll sleeve. Watch out for Stifler’s mom, Jim’s dad, and Finch’s mom (the very cougar, very MILF-ish Rebecca De Mornay). - YA, GMA News Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures